Harry Get Closer to Her

In a previous story I told about my extra grandparents. They were the parents of a special step-mother in my life. Well, I can't think back now without thinking of the day that made the words, "Harry get closer to her" stick in my mind forever. Harry was my grandfather by marriage but both grandparents were my grandparents and I was their granddaughter.

On this particular day I was spending a week with Grandma and Grandpa at a cabin they had bought on a chain of lakes in Michigan. Six Lakes was the closest town to the cabin and we went there often to get groceries and treats along with fishing bait. Grandma and Grandpa loved to fish and had taught me from the first time we met how to fish. I even had my own pole that Grandpa had purchased and rigged up just for me. No one else was allowed to use that pole.

"Harry get closer to her" didn't come from fishing though. One day I was a bit bored and feeling rather confident in my swimming abilities at the ripe age of 10 and decided I was going to swim across the lake where the cabin was. Ok, it was a small lake, probably as wide as a football field is long but I hadn't been swimming very long.

When I announced to Grandpa what I was going to do he was all for it and as confident as me that I could do it. Just as I went off the end of the dock into the water Grandma came out of the cabin. Grandpa was setting at the picnic table just off shore. From the door step Grandma yelled, "Faith what are you doing? Harry watch her?"

In the water a few yards now from the dock I yelled back in response, "I'm swimming across the lake Grandma."

That was it; Grandma proceeded to send out a stream of orders. Faith you can't go alone, Harry get in the boat and go with her, Harry hurry up she's too far out, Faith wait for Grandpa. Grandpa tried to tell her I was fine but she wasn't hearing it and he wandered over to the row boat that was tied up at the dock. He obviously wasn't moving fast enough for Grandma though as I could still hear her yelling orders to Grandpa: hurry up Harry she's way out there.

Grandpa never took his eyes off me as he got in the boat, untied it, and started rowing out on the lake in my direction. It only took him a minute to catch up to me and he slowly rowed next to me just far enough away not to hit me with the ores of the boat. The whole time we could still here Grandma yelling, "Harry get closer to her. Harry get closer to her."

Grandpa had not said a word since he left the dock but when we got about half way across the lake he looked down at me with the ores resting on the side of the boat and said, "I wonder if we'll still be able to hear her when we get to the other side." I rolled over on my back and looked Grandpa in the eye - he was laughing and I started to giggle as I asked him, "Do you want me to swim faster?"

"You do what ever you want sweetie it's your day" was all he said and I started swimming again. When we got to the other side we couldn't hear Grandma but could see her now standing on the end of the dock watching our every move. I rested a bit and then started the swim back with Grandpa again keeping right next to me. I know if anything had happened Grandpa could have reached in the water and grabbed me in a second, he was a very big strong man I was a skinny little thing.

When we got to the half-way point of the swim back to the cabin I started to get tired and told Grandpa maybe I should get in the boat for the rest of the trip. Grandpa said that would be great but we weren't going to tell Grandma it was because I was tired. When we arrived at the dock Grandma quickly tied the boat and helped me out of the boat.

Before she could say anything Grandpa in a booming voice said, "She didn't get in the boat because she was tired she did it for me so I didn't have to listen to you yelling the rest of the way home."

Grandpa lied! But I realized he did it as much for me as for himself. If I had told Grandma I got tired she wouldn't have let me try again. Before the week was over, accompanied by Grandpa I did manage to swim all the way across the lake and back without getting in the boat. And Grandma did stop yelling each time I tried but every single attempt when we got half way across the lake Grandpa would mimic Grandma that first day and whisper over the side of the boat, "Harry get closer to her" and we would both laugh.